It’s the first practice back from a minor knee injury, warm-ups are strong, and although the KT tape is peeling off, Jacquelyn Carvarra is on the road to recovery. It takes one wrong movement for Carvarra to tear her ACL, and one bad tackle for Gabrielle Starr’s ankle to grow to the size of softball.
As the women’s varsity soccer season kicked up, the team went into their season and was faced with many injuries. A large number of their players were suffering from injuries ranging from ACL tears to joint pains, many of which stemmed from the offseason or competitive season.
“It happens because they come from [competitive soccer]. They come from [competitive soccer] and they come strictly from playing showcases, like four games a weekend straight back to high school,” Coach Ana Jones said.
The team has a non-league record of 2-8-3. They had been hit with numerous injuries before one of their busiest weeks, with a total of five games between non-league games and a showcase tournament later in the week. With the amount of injured players on varsity, it forced Coach Jones to look at the JV team for some help.
“We had to pull up I believe six JV players to help us out … [by] the third game we were okay but we just couldn’t get the pieces together,” Jones said.
Starting center back Starr, who led the team with 51 steals last season, says a strong support system had been created from the consistent injuries on the team.
“Everyone has had at least one thing that’s made them sit out a practice or game, so there’s always going to be an understanding environment for that and people wishing you to get better,” Starr said.
Starr was injured with a sprained ankle, forcing her to sit out for the beginning of her senior season. The team in total was dealing with three injuries, an ACL tear from Carvarra and Starr’s sprained ankle. Four other injuries don’t cause players to sit out and are general joint and lower body pains, but still impact the performance of players on the field. The team was also faced with losing a large amount of substitutions because of injuries. During their second game against Franklin, the team was out six players out of a roster of 18, leaving them with no subs.
“I’m a center back and our main other center back is out, so that was hard at first but it’s helped me work with other players in the back with me,” Player Nina Souto said.
With the lack of substitutions and consistent injuries, the only thing the team could do was work toward one game at a time. The team competed in their first league game Jan. 5 against Granite Bay and tied 1-1 despite the injuries.
BY GRACE BOYD & ISABEL SOTO
